Euskadi Foundation

Usoa Ostolaza has finished 7th in the first stage of the Return to Women and has received the support of the Zarauztarras during the race and has been very excited about the reception.

The Dutch cyclist of the SD Worx team, in a decisive sprint in the stage, has dominated the four runners who have played the victory with him: Yara Kastelijn, Riejanne Markus, Lauren Dickson and Antonia Niedermaier.

The fifth edition of the race will begin this Friday in Zarautz and end on Sunday in San Sebastian with three stages. The winners of the four previous events of the test, Demi Vollering and Marlen Reusser, will not be in the Lap, so the race will have a new champion.

In the stage that will decide everything in the Women's Fifth Round, the Classical San Sebastian will be repeated, according to the organizers. The ports of Jaizkibel, first class, and Mendizorrotz, second class, the latter ten kilometers away, could be the protagonists on a day that will be full of excitement. 

The Herbeeras cyclist has beaten his teammate Lotte Kopecky and the Italian Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) in the finish line. Today was the last chance to see an end of this kind since from tomorrow the ports will be important.

The race will run through Gipuzkoa on the first day, and cyclists will have to climb six punctual ports, all of them third-class: "It is a route without great ports, but with continuous climbs and unrest," the organizers say.

The fifth edition of the race will begin in Zarautz on Friday 15 May and end in San Sebastián on Sunday 17. The three stages will be Zarautz-Zarautz (121.3 km), Abadiño-Zornotza (138 km) and Donostia-San Sebastián (113.1 km).

The test will be played between 14 and 18 April, and will be broadcast live by EITB, kirolak.com and ETB1.

The young cyclist of the Decathlon team thus becomes the first leader of the 2026 Return to the Basque Country. Pello Bilbao and Mikel Landa have been the best Basque cyclists, losing 53 and 55 seconds respectively.

The race, which will be held from 6 to 11 April, has been officially presented on Thursday and will consist of six stages, with a total of 29 qualifying ports to be promoted by cyclists.

The Red Bull Kilometer will offer six, four and two seconds each day for the first three riders crossing under its banner; the other special sprint gives three, two and one second and targets ten, six and four.

"The final stage will not be a formality," the organizers of the Vuelta warn, analyzing what the sixth and final day of the competition can bring. Asentzio, Elosua and Azkarate will go up two times, and in total three climbs will be level 2: "If the overall classification is tight," said Itzulia, "there will be continuous markings; there may also be a chance of a final attack from afar."

Cyclists will have to climb seven punctual climbs on the fourth day of the 65th Round; one of the ports, the last of which is Legina, will be left behind when less than ten kilometers to finish, and it is hard considering it has an average slope of 8%.

65. On the third day of the Return to the Basque Country, cyclists must climb three punctual ports, two of the 2nd and one of the 3rd; the organizers believe that on this day "there may be attacks from afar if the overall classification is very tight".

Four ports, including the 1st San Miguel de Aralar, will be on the route of the 65th Return to the Basque Country, which will be played in Navarre. "They could be well-organized getaways, and it might also be the case that teams competing in the overall ranking will start to tighten up the race," says the organizers of this second day.

As was also the case in 2021, the first stage of the Vuelta will be a counterclockwork that will begin and end in Bilbao. The race will leave Begoña and will have its destination in the park of Etxebarria; the last part will be the hardest, since the cyclists will have to overcome the 19% slope. 

After entering the day's getaway, the two runners have crossed the finish line holding hands to celebrate the victory.

The Basque team will be led by Naia Amondarain, Irati Aranguren, Idoia Eraso, Arianna Fidanza, Sara Fiorin and Marjolein Van't Geloof. The tests are the Omloop Get Nieuswsblad on Saturday, the Omloop van het Hageland on Sunday and the Le Samyn Ladies on Monday.

The organization has announced which teams will perform in the 65th edition of the race, so this year's Tour has featured all UCI WorldTeam teams except Jayco-AlUla and NSN Cycling Team.